Category: Soup Salads Sides

Always having some cooked quinoa in the fridge makes for tasty and quick midweek meals, especially during the summer time. We’ve been so blessed in Ireland this year with lots of sunshine, however as I write this the air is cool, they sky is grey and its spitting rain every few minutes. Things are returning to normal but I feel most people are welcoming a day or two of cooler weather, we’re just not cut out for months of sunshine in Ireland, it knocks us off-balance hehe.

This recipe is perfect for one of those hot days, the butternut squash makes it more wholesome and gives it bite and the toasted almonds add a crunchy texture. Leaving the skin on the squash saves time and if you haven’t already tried it then you must, the skin caramelises and becomes a little chewy, it’s a delight.

What you’ll need: (serves 2):

1 cup of quinoa

2 cups of good quality vegetable stock

2 cloves of garlic, grated

pinch of salt

1 baby butternut squash or half a regular squash

2 tablespoons of oil

Juice of half a lemon

4 spring onions, white and green parts sliced

1/4 cup of pomegranate seeds

small bunch of chopped parsley

1/4 cup of flaked almonds

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C, place the squash in an oven dish and pour over a little oil making sure each piece is well coated. Place the tray into the oven and cook for about 30 minutes or until the squash is cooked through and it’s skin is golden brown.

Always check the packet instructions for cooking the quinoa. Rinse and drain the quinoa, place in a pot with the grated garlic and cover with the stock. Cook on a gentle heat until ready.

Place a non-stick pan over a medium heat and add the flaked almonds. Gently toast until lightly golden, remove from the pan and set aside and allow to cool fully.

Place the quinoa in a large bowl and fluff up with a fork, add the spring onions, salt, pomegranate seeds, parsley and drizzle over the lemon juice.

Separate into two plates and serve with the butternut squash. Scatter over the flaked almonds and serve

After the longest and harshest winter ever summer finally arrive in May and we’ve been blessed with temperatures of up to 23°. If you’ve ever been to Ireland you might have noticed that we like to talk a lot about the weather, you see we get so much bad weather that once the sunshine appears it’s all anyone is concerned with.

No matter what time of the year it is I like to enjoy a tasty bowl of soup but the warmer months call for a soup that’s lighter, sweeter and echoes that happy summer feeling. This soup does just that and it’s a perfect lunch for a warm, sunny afternoon. With only 6 ingredients its super easy to prepare.

What you’ll need: (serves 4)

2 red peppers

2 can of chopped tomatoes

2 onion, finely diced

Maple syrup to taste (optional)

2 tablespoons of coconut oil

Sprig of thyme

Method:

Preheat your oven to 180°C, add 1 tablespoon of the oil to a roasting dish and heat in the oven for a few minutes. Prepare the peppers by cutting length ways into each one to get 4 to 6 pieces. Discard the centre and cut away any of the white pith. When the oil is hot enough remove the tray and add the red peppers skin side down. Keep an eye on them and turn once the skin has started to blacken and blister slightly. They’ll take about 30mins to cook.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a large pan and add the onion. Cook over a medium heat until translucent.

Add the tomatoes and cook for about 30mins until the tomatoes turn to a more orange colour. Chop up the roasted peppers and add to the mix. With a hand blender or a food processor blend to a silky smooth finish.

Season to taste and add a drop of maple syrup to sweeten if you think it needs it.

Quinoa has become my staple grain, that and millet. It’s very rare now that I have rice, only the odd time if I’m out. I always cook quinoa with a couple of cloves of garlic or some stock as the natural flavour is not one that I’m too fond of. Once cooked in some stock it’s a whole new ball game.

These ….. red peppers are deliciously sweet and are at their best when roasted. They work great in salads or as toppings for pizza, stuffed with some quinoa and veggies and then you’ve got a meal in itself. I always make extra to have for lunch the next day and it’s so delicious cold.

What you’ll need: (serves 4)

200g quinoa

4 … peppers

1 small red onion, very finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, grated

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 400g tin of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 large handfulls of baby leaf spinach, chopped

Juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons of vegan basil pesto

Violife Hot Peppers Cream cheese (optional)

Salt and pepper to season

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put the coconut oil in an oven tray and place inside the oven to heat through.

Trim the top off the peppers and try to remove as much of the pith from the inside as possible without splitting the pepper (the pith is the white spine-like parts that run down the inside). Wash well.

When heated through remove the tray with the oil from the oven. Place the peppers in the tray and spoon over with oil. Place the tray back in the oven and cook for 15mins, or until the peppers begin to soften.

Meanwhile cook the quinoa in veg stock according to the packet instructions. Once cooked pour the quinoa into a bowl. Add the onion, kidney beans, spinach, pesto and lemon juice and mix well. Season to your taste with salt and pepper.

Once the peppers have softened remove from the oven and place onto a cold plate to cool a little. Once they have cooled enough to handle begin stuffing them. The ends are quite narrow so you will need to push the quinoa stuffing down with the top of a spoon. Continue to fill the peppers until they are full. Return to the oven and continue to cook for another 20 minutes or until they start to blacken a little on the outside.

This soup is a hug in a bowl, it’s packed with goodness and tastes incredible. The curry powder adds warmth and by keeping it chunky this soup is a meal in itself, perfect for bringing to work for lunch as it doesn’t spill easily. You could choose to add more stock and blend it fully to create a lighter soup that’s more of a snack or a starter, it will also serve more this way, but I love it chunky.

What you’ll need: (serves 6)

1 large onion, finely diced

1/2 tablespoon of coconut oil for frying and another 1 tablespoon for roasting

4 cloves of garlic, finely diced

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1 teaspoon of cumin

1 tablespoon of curry powder

1 ltr of veg stock

1/2 small pumpkin cut into 2cm x 2cm cubes (you can use the other half in a tagine, click here for the recipe)

200g red lentil

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put 1 tablespoon of coconut oil into an oven tray and place in the oven. Once the oil has melted and is hot remove the tray and add the squash. Gently move the squash around the tray to evenly coat in the oil. Roast for 20 minutes, turning once.

Rinse the lentils with cold water and set to the side. Heat the remaining oil in a large pan and add the onions. Cook until translucent and stir occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for a further five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the curry powder and the spices and stir for about 2 minutes until all of the aromas have been released. Add the lentils followed by 1litre of veg stock.

Bring to the boil, cover and reduce to a simmer, cooking for about 30 minutes or until the lentils are cooked.

Remove the pumpkin from the oven and add half of it to the lentil mix. Stir in and roughly blend, you don’t want a smooth texture. If you need to add a little more liquid at this point do so a little at a time.

Wow the temperature has dropped here in Dublin but the problem is that one day it’ll be freezing cold and the next mild and pleasant. It’s this kind of fluctuation in temperatures that is spreading colds like wildfire so I’m dead set on not being afflicted by a dreaded winter cold. I’m a big fan of ginger and its flavours but ginger also offers medicinal properties to help fight off colds and flu. This soup is packed with healing and immune boosting ingredients, we’ve got garlic, onion, turmeric and of course the vitamin rich broccoli.

Apart from this soup being super good for you it is also incredibly tasty. My favourite ways to eat broccoli are stir-fried in some sesame oil and garlic like my Chinese Garlic Broccoli or in a soup. I remember the first time I tried it in a soup, all I added was onion and garlic, some salt and pepper and the flavours astounded me. This soup has a little more flavour from the spices and it tastes as good as it looks.

What you’ll need for the soup: Serves 4-6

1 large head of broccoli including stems

2 small onion, diced

4 cloves of garlic, diced

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

About 1cm x 3 cm piece of ginger, a little more if you’re a big ginger fan

1 teaspoon of turmeric

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper

1 litre of veg stock

1 x 400g can of butter beans (any white bean will do)

Salt to taste

What you’ll need for the lemon tahini sauce:

1 clove of garlic minced

2 heaped tablespoons of good quality tahini

The juice from 1/2 a lemon

3 to 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

4 tablespoons of water (a little more if your tahini paste is thick)

Black pepper and salt to taste

Method for the soup:

Melt the coconut oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and continue to cook on a low heat for about 3 minutes.

Add the spices and stir them in, cook through for a minute or two.

Cut the broccoli into florets about 1 inch in size. Remove any rough parts from the stems and cut into 2cm cubes, add to the pan along with a cup full of stock. When the broccoli had turned bright green add the beans and the rest of the stock. Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for five minutes.

Using a food processor or a hand-held blender blend into a soup.

Method for the Tahini sauce:

Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and mix. Taste and add more salt, pepper or lemon as required. Add more water if needed, consistency should be like a thick cream.

I’m calling this a weekend breakfast bap because it’s a rare occasion when I’ll have time to prepare something like this for breakfast during the week, however I did keep an extra one in the fridge for my lunch today and its al I can think about right now. This makes a great lunch and you make make a day ahead and keep it in the fridge.

All of the elements of this giant sandwich come together perfectly for a real treat. The scrambled tofu with the crispy fried shrooms topped off with some vegan mayo, oh I wish every day was the weekend.

What you’ll need: (makes 4)

250g of firm tofu

1 clove of garlic minced or grated

3 to 4 pinches of ras al hanout (optional but gives great flavour)

a pinch of turmeric, just enough to colour the tofu

250 oyster mushrooms

tamari (just a splash)

4 multi seed baps

salt to taste

oil for cooking

1 Avocado

Large beef tomato

Green leaves

Red onion

Follow Your Heart veganaise

Method:

To scramble the tofu place it in between two plates and place something heavy on the top plate. This will help drain out the excess liquid from the tofu. I never cook tofu without this process.

Pace a wok or large pan over a high heat, add a little oil and crumble in the tofu. Add in the ras al hanout and toss to mix, sprinkle in a little turmeric just to give the tofu a yellowish colour. Reduce the heat and add the garlic and continue to toss to mix well and cook through. Add some salt to taste.

Place another pan over high heat and add a little oil, mushrooms can soak up a lot of oil so it’s a good idea to try to lightly coat them so that you don’t have to keep adding oil. Cook on each side for about 3 minutes or until they are dark and crispy, add a splash of tamari for seasoning.

Lightly toast the baps over an open flame if you have a gas hob, I swear by this method. If not you can use the grill.

To build the bap I like to start with placing the bap on a piece of parchment paper or some foil, add a generous helping of veganaise on both the top and bottom bap half. I’ll then start layering up with some red onion, a thick slice of beef tomato, tofu scramble and then the oyster mushrooms. I’ll top it all off with some creamy avocado and leafy greens. It’s not easy to pile all off these ingredients onto the baps so having parchment paper of foil helps to wrap it up and makes eating it so much easier and well, less sloppy.

Things on toast, there are endless possibilities and this sweet and savoury combo is one you’ll want more of. The peaches and maple glaze works great with vegan blue cheese to counteract that yummy sweetness and I’ve added some wild rocket leaves too for added texture and spice.

If your peaches are nicely ripened removing the skin should be easy enough, if they are not fully ripe then blanch them for a couple of minutes in hot water, this will help loosen the skin. If fully ripe cut the peaches first in half, then half each piece again, and again. You will have 8 wedges and then remove the skin.

Add the peaches to a bowl with the maple syrup and using your hands gently mix them making sure each wedge is nicely coated with the maple syrup.

If you have a gas hob use a chef’s tongs and toast the bread over an open flame, this will add so much smokey flavour to the toast. If you don’t heat a griddle pan over a high heat and toast the bread on each side, set aside.

Reduce the heat of the griddle pan to medium and carefully add the peach wedges. Be mindful of the marks the pan will make on each wedge. Placing them at an angle results in nice diagonal lines on the peaches. Cook for a couple of minutes on each side, being very careful when turning them.

Brush the toast with some olive oil and add the peaches, blue cheese and a couple of rocket leaves to each slice.